Want to fire up your metabolism, shave centimetres off your waist and slip a slimmer silhouette into your jeans? Then pump some iron! Here's why strength training should be a part of your workout routine.

Looking for the perfect class to get you trim, taut and terrific before the bikini season? Cycle classes will burn more calories and increase your fitness level faster than any other class on the timetable.

Do you prefer the steady pace and indoor comfort of the treadmill to running in the great outdoors? If you’re a dedicated treadmill runner, there are some easy changes you can make to boost your fitness, tone your butt, and burn more kilojoules.

If you haven’t jumped rope since you waved goodbye to your primary school playground, you’re missing out. Skipping, long practiced by boxers for agility and strength training, is a fantastic cardio workout and helps to build lean muscle, too. Here are two mini workouts to get you started.

Here’s the news you’ve been waiting for – improving your flexibility is much easier than you think. The key is consistency. Putting aside a couple of minutes to stretch after each workout should be enough to get you touching your toes with ease.

Since the age of 17, Stephanie Gilmore has chased the best waves to some of the world’s most exotic locations. Fernwood caught up with the five-time world surfing champion to talk touring, training and tan lines.

As we age, our bodies change and so do our fitness needs. If you’re over 55, you need to be doing a combination of aerobic and resistance training to optimise your health and ensure you get the results you want.

To swim for less than one minute when it matters, one of Australia’s medal hopes in the London Olympics has completed 10,000 km in the pool since the Beijing Games, despite illness. Fernwood talks to Pantene Ambassador Emily Seebohm about the cost of chasing Olympic glory.

Resistance training is one of the best ways to change your body composition and fire up your metabolism. It is important to be working at the right intensity to achieve the goals you’re after. For this to happen, you need to know what you are capable of or the maximum weight you can lift. This is referred to as your ‘1RM’.

At Fernwood we know that one of the best forms of exercise that women can do is resistance training. Yet there are also misconceptions about using weights that discourage women from training optimally in this section of the gym. Learn why your shouldn't believe the rumours.

You’ve pushed a human out of your body. You’re surviving on next to no sleep, and each day is a fight against fatigue and full of efforts to regain control of your pelvic floor. Here are some exercises suitable for mum's getting back into the swing of exercise, and anyone seeking to improve their balance, posture and tone.

Knowing why we exercise and how it affects our body’s composition is just as important as seeing the benefits it provides. By pushing ourselves and making exercise part of our daily lives we can see better results and have a better chance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Here are our 10 top tips to getting the most out of your exercise!

Let's do the fitness time warp! From the first cavewoman wondering if her butt looked big in that leopard skin to Marilyn’s curves to rake-thin nineties supermodels and everything in between, women have worked tirelessly, not just for fitness, but to achieve the desired shape of their era. Every step of the way, there has been a fitness fad promising to change their world or, even better, promising a short cut...

Are you new to the Tabata Protocol? Here’s a beginners version of the workout to help you ease into this style of training. It’s high intensity and quick… seven minutes long in fact! That’s three minutes of warm-up, two 30 second intervals, followed by a two minute cool down.

Medicine balls have been used for years, particularly for core exercises for a simple reason, they work. Medicine ball exercises are great for overall strengthening of the muscles in your lower back and abdominals. Here are three great exercises you can work into your regular routine.Read More...

Try a new sport to reap the rewards, both physically and mentally. Here’s how. When it comes to working out, it’s easy to stick to what you know. But it’s only when you step outside your comfort zone that the magic starts to happen.

Research shows that a fluctuating motivation to exercise has an impact on how much physical activity you actually do from week to week. So by keeping our exercise motivation high we can give ourselves the best chance of actually doing the things we set out to do. Here are some tips to do just that!

One of our Women to Watch in 2012 is US Open Tennis Champion Sam Stosur. Although she didn’t make it past the first round at Melbourne Park last week, her physique definitely caught our eye.

While not every female wants to bulk up as much as Stosur, we can admire the work she’s done to don some of the most toned arms on Centre Court. If you want just a little bit of what Sam has got, here are some tips to be well armed while the sun’s out.

Resistance training, also known as weight training, is a great way to burn fat, enhance your strength, and improve posture and muscle tone. Whether you’re new to resistance training or have been throwing iron around for years, the same basic principles apply for getting the most out of your time in the weights room.

A girl needs purpose, so rather than casually turning up to the gym and jumping on a few machines, know what you want to get out of your program. To keep yourself on the job, write down your fitness goals and post them where you'll see them every day.

New research reveals that middle-aged people who do 30 minutes of vigorous activity three times a week are half as likely to suffer physical decline and impaired mobility as they age compared to those who do nothing.

Exercise Physiologist from Fernwood Women’s Health Clubs Maryanne Long, says scientific research has long shown that exercise can slow the physiological aging clock and explains that while strength training is essential for women of all ages, it is especially beneficial to women going through menopause.

Music is one of the most powerful motivational tools you can use when working out. It can lift your performance, keep fatigue at bay, and kill boredom. Its impact on our physical efforts has made it a ‘must have’ when training.